Mansion – Piedmont Historic Homes

Mebane on a Million-Dollar Budget

June 18, 2024

*301 S. 5th Street, for sale at $1 million*

Mebane has been discovered. The small Alamance County town has become one of the hottest real-estate markets in the region as the Triangle’s sprawl pushes homebuyers west. A good indication of Mebane’s popularity is the number of million-dollar historic properties for sale. That number is currently three, which may not seem like a lot, but Mebane is still a pretty small place. And not too long ago, it wasn’t a very promising place to sell a million-dollar house.

Here are Mebane’s current million-dollar listings. Two are in the Old South Mebane Historic District; the other is outlying a bit from town and comes with 52 acres. As it happens, all were owned by notable figures in Mebane’s industrial and government history. And if what you’re looking for is a $3 million mansion on 29 acres with marble floors and intricate wall moldings that “set the stage for opulence,” keep going for one more listing that was withdrawn earlier this year after just four months. They shouldn’t have given up so quickly. Opulence is becoming a hot item in Mebane.

Another Historic Mansion in Greensboro Is Being Demolished

March 13, 2024

Two weeks ago, developer Roy Carroll paid $4.5 million for the 1937 J. Spencer Love House at 710 Country Club Drive in Greensboro. Now he’s tearing it down. The 11,000 square-foot mansion had a distinguished history — built by the founder of Burlington Industries, then owned for 37 years by Benjamin and Anne Cone of Cone Mills, and finally sold to Carroll by Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, founder of Pace Communications, former ambassador and now chair of the American Red Cross. It was one of the major structures of the Irving Park Historic District on the National Register. The property is three acres in the heart of Irving Park, across the street from the Greensboro Country Club.

Someone Really Needs to Save the O. Max Gardner House in Shelby

January 5, 2024

(The first photo above is by Mike Hensdill of The Gastonia Gazette via The Shelby Star.)

The home of one of North Carolina’s most prominent governors is in sad shape. Although it’s listed on the National Register, the mansion has fallen into disrepair. It’s for sale at $396,700, a lot of money but a reasonable $58 per square foot. It’s a landmark worth saving.

Oliver Max Gardner was one of the most significant governors of North Carolina in the 20th century, and the house “is one of the most distinguished residences in the town of Shelby,” its National Register nomination says. Built around 1850, it has 6 bedrooms, 8 full bathrooms and 1 half-bathroom in 6,813 square feet (per county records). It sits well back from the street on a large 2.43-acre lot. In addition to being on the National Register in its own right, it’s in the Central Shelby Historic District on the National Register.

“The house is an early twentieth century overbuilding of a mid-nineteenth century Italianate dwelling, and though remnants of the earlier structure can be seen in places, the house is of thoroughgoing Colonial Revival character … here fully developed in one of the most striking examples of the style in western North Carolina,” its National Register nomination says.

Huntlyholme, A 1924 Mansion in Winston-Salem, $3 Million

October 7, 2023

The rise of Charlotte and Raleigh as nationally prominent cities makes it easy to overlook Winston-Salem’s status 100 years ago as North Carolina’s biggest and richest city. Its heyday is long past, but an outstanding collection of historic mansions is a legacy that lives on. A particularly remarkable example now for sale is Huntlyholme, a 9,300 square-foot mansion in the Westview neighborhood.

Built in 1924, the house was designed by architects Charles Barton Keen and William Roy Wallace with original landscaping by Thomas Sears, all prominent names in Winston-Salem architectural history. The address is 2900 Country Club Drive.

The Haywood House, an 1802 Mansion near Mount Gilead, $350,000

May 12, 2022

It’s a sign of the times that the Haywood House went up for sale May 8, and the sellers accepted an offer four days later. Nineteenth-century mansions that need “a little updating and TLC” can linger for months before just the right buyer comes along. But these are still not ordinary times, and the Haywood House is no ordinary home.

Built in 1802, it’s a Classical Revival mansion with four monumental columns out front. It has four bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms (one with a fireplace in what must have originally been a bedroom) in 4,330 square feet (per county records; the listing shows 4,800). That divides out to a very modest $81 per square foot. The once-sprawling grounds have been reduced to a manageable 10 acres. The property is a few miles east of Mount Gilead in the Uwharrie National Forest. The address is 2989 Thickety Creek Road.

Sold: The 1946 Home of a Winston-Salem Family That Conquered an Industry, $980,000

March 12, 2022

The Reynolds and Hanes families are as emblematic of Winston-Salem as Old Salem or Bethania. The Lewallens came along a bit later and never achieved the same profile, but they, too, built a business and made their brand the industry leader and a household name (in the Southeast, at least).

The Thad and Nell Lewallen House in Buena Vista sold last week for $980,615. It was designed by William Roy Wallace (more here), one of the state’s more prominent architects of the period. It’s a big (4,700 square feet), Georgian mansion with a slate roof and a view of the Forsyth Country Club golf course. Its rooms are elegant and spacious, as is the well-landscaped 1.28-acre lot.

New Listing: One of Greensboro’s Most High-Profile B&B’s, the Iconic 1909 Double Oaks, $1.795 Million

March 8, 2022

Update: The MLS listing was withdrawn on March 28.

The owners of Double Oaks, the Harden Thomas Martin House, are selling it as a turnkey business, including the furnishings and fixtures. But if you need 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and a commercial kitchen just for yourself and your family, it would serve quite nicely as a $1.795 million single-family residence.

The house has been impeccably restored. The interior is as attention-grabbing as the exterior. Originally operated as a B&B from 1998-2007, the current owners bought and reopened it in 2016. They’ve restored the formerly closed third floor and added extensive landscaping, making it an active venue for weddings and other events.

Woodside: An 1838 Mansion in Caswell County on the National Register, $595,000

February 6, 2022

1939 N.C. Highway 57 N., Milton, Caswell County
Woodside, the Caleb Hazard Richmond House
National Register of Historic Places

The Joseph Bason Whitsett House: A Possibly Endangered 1883 Guilford County Mansion, $1.3 Million

October 21, 2021

Update and correction, June 13, 2023: The house has been demolished. It was not a Guilford County Landmark; references to that effect have been removed.

The town of Whitsett was named for the Whitsett Institute, a school for boys founded by the son of early settler Joseph Whisett. The family homestead has stood in the small eastern Guilford County town since 1883, but it may need some luck to remain standing much longer. The house and its surrounding 11 acres are for sale at $1.3 million. A hopeful sign: The owners have listed it as a residential property, even though it has been used as a financial firm’s office for many years. A less hopeful sign: They’ve also listed it as a commercial property, “11.3 Acres of Improved Commercial Land for Sale”:

“Prime development opportunity along the I-40/I-85 corridor in the fast-growing E. Guilford and W. Alamance market,” the listing reads. “Two properties consist of an office building on 11 acres and a vacant tract of 67 acres. Highest and best use is mixed use residential consisting of apartments, townhomes and SF lots.”

And, oh, by the way, “Beautiful Victorian House built in the 1880s is currently used as office.”

New Listing: Northup & O’Brien’s 1933 Lasater Mill House in Clemmons, $1.99 million

August 9, 2021

The Lasater Mill House is a mansion that was originally an outbuilding for a bigger mansion. It was designed by Northup & O’Brien for a niece of R.J. Reynolds, Nancy Margaret Lybrook Lasater (1877-1952), and her husband, Robert E. Lasater (1867-1954), an RJR executive. Nancy’s mother, Mary Josephine Reynolds Lybrook (1844-1888), was a sister of RJR; she was the first of 12 children, only seven of whom survived to adulthood.

The house is at the west end of Lasater Lake, where Blanket Creek runs down to the nearby Yadkin River. The exterior and the interior are spectacular. I’d love to know what Northup and O’Brien would say about how the house has been updated. If those bathrooms wouldn’t blow their minds, nothing would.

Piedmont Historic Homes

Historic homes for sale in the Piedmont Triad

Category: Mansion